Bicyclists in Scranton now have six new spots to lash their pedals to the metal.

City Department of Public Work employees on Friday installed on downtown sidewalks six custom bicycle racks sporting the Electric City sign logo, DPW Director Dennis Gallagher said.

The green hoop came about through a collaboration between the city, Lackawanna County and the Scranton Tomorrow business advocacy group, according to Maureen McGuigan, deputy director of the county office of art and culture, who led the project.

With more people living downtown and more activity there, biking and demand for racks are growing, she said. Eight artistic bike racks previously installed by the county at Courthouse Square often are filled up.

“You’ll see a number of bikes chained to trees and poles. There was a need for bike parking downtown,” Ms. McGuigan said. “We’re hoping to encourage more people to bike downtown.”

The six new racks come from a group of 10 featuring the Electric City sign logo that the city a few years ago purchased at a cost of $500 each, Ms. McGuigan said.

Her department held two of these racks as models, while the other eight were stored by the city DPW. However, only four of those other eight could be found, she and Mr. Gallagher said. The whereabouts of the other four is unknown.

Mr. Gallagher, who took over DPW in January under new Mayor Bill Courtright, said of the misplaced or missing racks, “Some of them are gone. Where they went, I don’t know.”

“I’m hoping they (the other four) will turn up,” Ms. McGuigan said.

The county previously funded a dozen other artistic bike racks of various designs. These include the eight racks around Courthouse Square, one at the Electric City Trolley Museum and two in the Midvalley, she said.

Another rack sculpted in the form of a bike’s chain link will be installed at a Lackawanna River Heritage Trail access on West Olive Street in Scranton, she said.

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com, @jlockwoodTT on Twitter

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